Commonwealth v. Stemple

940 A.2d 504, 2008 Pa. Super. 1, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 14
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 2, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 940 A.2d 504 (Commonwealth v. Stemple) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Stemple, 940 A.2d 504, 2008 Pa. Super. 1, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 14 (Pa. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION BY

COLVILLE, J.:

¶ 1 This case is an appeal from the order denying Appellant’s petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA). Appellant contends his sentence is illegal in various ways, and his arguments require us to determine the proper interpretation of the sentencing provisions of 75 Pa. C.S.A. § 3735(a) (homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence). For the reasons set forth herein, we reverse the PCRA court’s order, vacate the sentence and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Facts

¶ 2 In 2004, Appellant was charged with driving under the influence (DUI)1, homicide while DUI2 and related counts. There were two homicide victims. It appears that, initially, the criminal information reflected the two deaths in two separate counts, each one charging a violation of 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3735(a). At the time this case arose, that statute read, in pertinent part, as follows:

[506]*506§ 3735. Homicide by vehicle while driving under influence
(a) Offense defined. — Any person who unintentionally causes the death of another person as the result of a violation of section 3731

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3735(a).

¶ 3 Because § 3735(a) discusses the interrelation of sentences for multiple deaths arising from one act of DUI, the trial court reasoned that the statute requires multi-death cases to be reflected in a single count covering all victims rather than a distinct count for each victim. The Commonwealth acquiesced to the court’s interpretation of the statute regarding the issue of multiple deaths in one count and, accordingly, moved to amend the information to include the deaths of both homicide victims in a single count of DUI homicide. The court granted the motion.

¶ 4 Thereafter, Appellant pled guilty to the single count of DUI homicide — a single felony of the second degree — for the two deaths. He also pled guilty to DUI. The remaining charges were nolle grossed.

¶ 5 Appellant was later sentenced. Thereafter, he filed a post-sentence motion, and the court then modified his penalty, imposing a new sentence which, in pertinent part, included the following:

1. The Defendant shall undergo an imprisonment in the state penitentiary— for the first of two deaths arising out of this case — to a term of not less than five years nor more than ten years.
A consecutive three[-]year term of imprisonment is hereby imposed for the second victim whose death resulted from Defendant’s violation of the Driving Under the Influence statute.

Sentencing Court Order, 12/06/04, at 1, 2.

¶ 6 As is apparent from the foregoing order, the consecutive penalty for the second victim was a flat three-year sentence, not a sentence involving a minimum and maximum term. During the resentencing hearing, the court expressed some uncertainty as to whether the flat sentence was to be aggregated with the minimum of five years or whether it might follow the maximum of ten years. The court voiced its belief that the Department of Corrections (“D.O.C.”) and/or, perhaps, the appellate courts would decide the appropriate aggregation. Appellant’s penalty also included other particulars such as restitution and credit for time spent in custody. After resentencing, Appellant did not file a post-sentence motion or a direct appeal.

¶ 7 Some four months after resentenc-ing, D.O.C. asked the sentencing court to clarify whether Appellant’s sentence in this case was to be consecutive or concurrent to unrelated sentences he was then serving. In response, the court entered an order indicating Appellant’s sentence on the instant case was to be consecutive to all “outstanding sentence^]”. Sentencing Court Order, 04/29/05, at 1.

[507]*507¶ 8 Appellant later filed a timely PCRA petition, challenging his sentence as being illegal in various ways. The PCRA court denied relief. This appeal follows.

Appellant’s Claim

¶9 Appellant’s claim of illegality involves a number of points. For example, he contends the sentence announced by the court is unclear, thus subject to multiple interpretations. In this vein, he argues that, if the flat sentence of three years for the second victim is added to the minimum term of five years for the first victim, Appellant’s aggregate incarceration becomes eight to ten years. He then notes a sentence of this type violates 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9756, the statute requiring a minimum term of confinement to be no more than half the maximum. Appellant thus concludes his sentence is illegal.

¶ 10 Alternatively, asserts Appellant, if the flat three-year sentence for the second victim is consecutive to the end of the ten-year maximum for the first victim, Appellant’s maximum incarceration becomes thirteen years. Because the court required there to be only one count of DUI homicide, Appellant pled guilty to only one second-degree felony. The statutory maximum for a second-degree felony is ten years. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 1103(2). Thus, claims Appellant, his maximum sentence of thirteen years would exceed the allowable maximum and, therefore, would be illegal.

¶ 11 Additionally, pervading all of Appellant’s foregoing arguments is the more general, and more basic, question of whether the trial court’s interpretation of the DUI homicide statute was correct in the first instance. Specifically, he challenges the court’s determination that the statute calls for multiple deaths to be included in one count as contrasted with disparate counts for disparate victims. He also questions the finding made by the court that the statute mandates three- to six-year sentences for the first death and flat three-year sentences for additional deaths in a multideath case.

¶ 12 Appellant raises an additional point. He contends the sentence as stated by the court might somehow be interpreted to mean the flat three-year penalty was imposed not for the second homicide victim but, instead, for the DUI count. Appellant argues such a sentence is illegal because the charges of DUI and DUI homicide merge for sentencing purposes. See Commonwealth v. Opperman, 780 A.2d 714, 717 (Pa.Super.2001).

If 13 In a related contention, Appellant essentially argues that, whatever the sentencing court may have intended for the flat three-year sentence, D.O.C. has illegally applied that sentence to the DUI count.

¶ 14 Finally, Appellant claims it was illegal for the sentencing court to issue the order of April 29, 2005, which order indicated his sentence on this case was to be consecutive to his penalties on other cases. As part of his argument, Appellant contends the order modified his sentence by depriving him of certain credit time to which he was entitled.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
940 A.2d 504, 2008 Pa. Super. 1, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-stemple-pasuperct-2008.